You ask some good questions! What are content pillars anyway, right?

Well, think of them as actual pillars for your content marketing strategy. They are the primary supports keeping the roof above your head.

No, I am being serious. 

If you are genuinely asking, then I am legitimately telling you they are keeping the roof over your head. They will pay the bills and then some. And then extra on top of that.

Okay, but what are they really?

Content pillars are the topics and themes that become the foundation of your content marketing. Taking it one step further, though, they also become the supporting structures for your brand marketing, as well.

As your content goes, so goes your brand.

So if brand marketing is your thing, then having some rock-solid content pillars are going to be a large part of your content marketing strategy upon which rests your brand marketing strategy.

Content pillars can be pretty much any source of major content. Some businesses use ebooks as content pillars while others use an evergreen blog post. Others let a master course sit as a content pillar for their brand and business. 

What I’m saying is: pretty much anything can become pillar content, but not everything can be pillar content.

How do you define content pillars?

If you are trying to figure out what content pillars are and how to use them, then you are going to want to truly define your content pillars.

The entire point of pillar content is that it stands as a representative of something foundational to your business.

This can look like: 

• A core belief of your business
• A core product or service you provide
• A defining feature or benefit your product/service provides
• A specific marketing/business practice unique to your brand or business

There are a lot of other things that could fit into the broad pillar content category, but they all typically boil down to something *special* about your business. 

From there, you can choose whether or not this particular piece of content will exist in your content marketing strategy as an actual piece of content or a theme/focus that will be reiterated throughout your brand or business.

Sometimes…it can be both!

Why do you need pillar content?

Now, we come to the real reason we are asking, “what are content pillars?”

You need them because, as I said, they will form the wireframe for all of your content marketing and even your brand marketing.

However, if that alone doesn’t convince you, then let me break it down just a bit further with three points.

1. Content pillars help give you clarity for the direction your business is heading. For example, they will help you determine your content schedule: what types of content you will create and when you will share it.

2. Content pillars build trust with your audience. They will come to know and understand exactly what it is you do and what you are offering. More importantly, they will be able to see consistency in how you talk about what you provide for them.

3. Content pillars will help you grow your audience. Think of it another way: the person who walks around in flip flops and shorts, even in the winter and snow, will eventually be known as “the Flip Flop Guy” because he is consistent and apparent about his values…wearing flip flops.

P.S. The Flip Flop Guy was me in college 😉

Are you satisfied with knowing what content pillars are yet?

What are content pillars? Well…now you know. They help give structure, purpose, and clarity to how you talk about your brand or business. Plus, they help give your audience a major boost in both growth and loyalty.

If you like what you see, then there is a ton more content over on the blog. For questions pointed in my general direction, you can shoot me an email. Or if you REALLY like what you see, then fill out this contact form and let’s chat about how I can help your content marketing endeavors!

As always, I appreciate you, friend!